I am going to try to make a tomahawk, then later after I get that down, I'm going to make a francheska,(not spelled right) the french tomahawk that was so effective way back when.
any pointers/advice/instruction would help. and I'd apreciate it a lot.

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When i had access to a machine shop. With a milling machine we turned out several out of railroad spikes.They were good throwers.Now due to shoulder issues I can't throw a rock now.But railroad spikes are good starting point.Leaf springs would be your next best bet,old chevy springs are the best.

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yea, I thought I would fold a leaf around, a piece of cold roll, forge weld the head, then shape my edge, remove the roll then taper the hole for my handle, then use a hatchet handle, fix it the same way, you know with wedges

An all leaf construction is probably overkill in that it is much harder steel than you need to use (with all of its attendant workability issues) I would suggest you look at a three piece construction forge welding a hard edging steel to a softer head steel... less fragile too believe it or not

I too have been playing with that idea, making edged weapons that is.
I found this site that makes kits, for nives, edged weapons, etc..
I was thinking of starting here and then going from there, pricing looks pretty good as well.

Hello,
My idea is to use cold rolled steel and hardface it like the farmers do to the digging tools. I forget the welding rod they use but it's tensile strength is about 3 times that of steel (~140,000 psi). If you can cut and weld steel you should have no problem shaping the tomahawk.
They are tough to sharpen. But what an edge! Cut, dig, and maul dirt, trees, car bodies, cinderblock, and flesh. Need I say more?
Google "hardfacing steel"

My grandfather had one he had made himself when he was a kid back on the 'rez. Simple but effective, not the style your going for tho. His was a knapped piece of obsidian (knapped into almost an axehead shape) then the haft was basically a stick split down the center wedged the head in between and wrapped rawhide above and below the split to keep it from splitting further. Dunno if they used anything else to bind it together but His was still damned sharp and still holding up when he showed it to me when he was 87...
A steel one like you are thinking of, especially one hardfaced and done out of tempered steel... much more practical thesedays. I'm trying to get back to being off the grid as much as possible, so I prefer to think without power and say an oxyacetylene torch. But I might try out your ideas myself. Let me know how it goes.

I have been using a 3 piece method,blade is an old leaf spring,center is heavy gauge pipe squeezed to an egg shape,and an old jack hammer or rock drill bit for the hammer head. It pays to have a brother that is a certified welder.

Good luck, make sure we get lots of pictures and do a sticky. I have been wanting one but not gotten around to ordering it. So lets see what you can do.

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